1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to forming candy and chocolate bars and, more particularly, to a device for cleaning or screeding the surface of a filled mold which defines the bottom or base of the finished product.
2. Description of the Related Art
In chocolate molding plants, two cleaning systems for the bottoms of candy bars in molds are currently used.
One system is the so-called "roller system", wherein a cylinder disposed with its axis parallel to the surface of the mold is rotated in contact with the surface of the mold and removes the excess chocolate that covers the surface of the mold.
This system is efficient for cleaning the surface of the mold when the shell of the candy is formed. However, its operation is most deficient when it is necessary to screed the surface of the filled candy mold. This is because the roller, when rotating, removes excess chocolate by dragging, thus forming a void in the area which has already been cleaned. Accordingly, in some cases, the roller will remove more chocolate than is necessary and will expose the fill. The foregoing is caused by a critical condition which will depend upon, among other factors, the temperature and viscosity of the chocolate, which results in a major or minor adherence between the roller and the chocolate mass. As a result, the bottoms of the products manufactured using this system can have an irregular finish and, generally, will be concave.
The other system of bottom cleaning is known as "Fixed Spatula". In that system, a spatula having metal or rubber edges is disposed over the mold and perpendicular with respect to the travel direction of the mold. As such, the spatula is in contact with the surface of the bottom of the molded chocolate. When the mold advances under the spatula, all of the excess chocolate from the surface of the mold is retained by the spatula and removed from the mold.
Although the fixed spatula system is very simple, it has several disadvantages. For example, because the spatula is fixed, it is not possible to adjust the pressure it exerts on the mold. Furthermore, the cleaning speed is defined by the travel speed of the conveyed mold which is not always optimum for a perfect finishing of the product bottom. Even further, the excess chocolate can adhere to the spatula and will increase in volume. Thus, incorrect cleaning of the bottom of the molded chocolate will result after some hours of use. Accordingly, the spatula requires constant cleaning to operate correctly.